A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Taste of the Ozarks: Beans & Greens

Even I will admit that maybe that doesn't look all that delcious, but I swear on a stack of Bibles, it's delicious.  Beans & Greens has long been a down-home dish throughout most of the southern U.S. and we're no exception.  We love our "brown" (pinto for the uninitiated) beans and cornbread, which btw, form a complete protein. Couple that with kale, collards, or spinach, and you're really looking at a protein/vitamin powerhouse. To be completely honest, you see the green but you don't really taste it.  Until I told him, Gene thought I'd just gone really nuts with the parsley.

This is my version using country sausage with lots of sage, collard greens, and pinto beans.  It's an easy-peasy workday recipe where you throw everything from the pantry/freezer into the crock-pot and either go to work, or like me, go to sleep. Dinner is ready when you are.  Add crackers or cornbread or dinner rolls and you've got a happy Gene, I mean, whatever your spouse's name is.

Better Than Mom's (Sorry Mom!) Lasagna

 

 

Sorry, Mom, even though you were a fabulous cook, I think in this one instance I beat you at your own game. 

I love lasagna but with only two of us it's something I only get to make when we're having company.  You just can't make a small lasagna!

So for New Year's Eve, that's what I did, although I stepped up a few of the ingredients my Mom used to use, switching out ricotta and cream cheese for the cottage cheese, and using a 50/50 mix of ground beef and country sausage for my Slow Cooker Meat Sauce. 

We were all pretty pleased, patting myself on the back. The result was rich without being overwhelming and not too wet, not to dry, perfect texture. Will be making these changes always from now on.

 

EPIC FAIL: Martha Stewart's Bacon Jam

I made a pledge on Facebook that I would concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas this year by only giving small heart-felt gifts this year.  Why Facebook?  I was using the theory on myself that if I announced it to everyone I know then I would keep myself accountable to my pledge and NOT wimp out and suddenly go on a huge shopping spree out of last-minute desperation.  Believe me, my friends live to give me hell so they were/are still watching me, ready to pounce, and that's what I love about them!

True to my word, I have knitted and sewed and crafted and now I've started cooking.  I decided to take some old recipes that my mom made when I was a kid for food gifts and update them.  I also picked out a couple of new recipes that intrigued me.  The first of those is this bacon jam from the Martha Stewart web site. The web site says to spread it on bread as an appetizer. In my mind I could also see it served over cream cheese with crackers, or as a meat chutney to go top of ham or beef, maybe even as a filling for phyllo appetizers or baked on top of brie.  It's an intriguing recipe.  The combination of ingredients looked to produce something sweet and savory and wonderful, a unique gift, as well as an appetizer for our family Christmas get-together. I still believe that, but in this case, either the bacon or the crockpot decided to go all Stephen King on me and produced this malevolent mess.

Speaking of giving me hell,  I'm just waiting for Auntie Miranda to speak up.  I'm known for not being a Martha Stewart fan. In reality, I love her ideas, but something about her bugs the crap out of me when I watch her show. Shudder.  It's the same thing that makes me turn the channel when Sandra Lee comes on.  In theory, I like them both and their ideas, for different reasons of course, but watching them sets my teeth on edge. I don't know why, it's just a personal thing. 

Timpano di Maccheroni: The "Mythic Pasta Dome"

  

This recipe was so much fun to make!  I'd seen it years ago, a classic Italian dish made famous by Stanley Tucci's movie "Big Night" , the story of two restauranteur brothers (Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, more recently starring as Adrian Monk) whose fortunates are on the wane.  In a last mad dash, they have one "Big Night" extravaganza to save the restaurant and this is one of the dishes they served.

I served it our Dexter Dinner group to celebrate the season six premiere of Dexter. We gathered for Timpano, Death in the Afternoon cocktails, and Dexter (Apple) cake. Everything, including Dexter, was delicious!  This recipe is definitely a showstopper and very flexible. I'll be serving it again.

Several years ago, I had planned on making it for my pasta-lovin' niece Jordan's birthday party as a truly celebratory entree but at the last minute I flinched, afraid I would leave the whole family in the lurch if I messed it up, and simply served baked mostacciola instead. While the dish does have several steps, almost all of them can be made ahead and the whole dish can easily be finished early on the day of serving and baked a bit before serving.  Actually, with at least a half hour cooling time it's a great dish to take to a potluck or to serve at an open house. I only made a 2qt bowl full and not only was it plenty of food for the four of us watching Dexter that night, there were leftovers, and during the dinner, the dish was still warm to the touch 45 minutes after cutting.

As much as I sort of dreaded and anticipated and was scared and excited all at the same time about preparing this dish, it really is much easier to make than it looks! I promise.

Slow Cooker Meat Sauce for Pasta

 

The first step in preparing for the "mythic pasta dome", Timpano is to create meatballs (traditional) or chunky meat sauce for the pasta.  Although I eat meat, I've found that many times I have a little texture problem when it comes to meat and I find myself pushing away the ground beef or meatballs and eating the pasta and sauce.  I do the same thing with chili with beans: I tend to eat the beans and work around the larger chunks of meat. Not any more.  Since experimenting one time with chili by putting the raw ground meat into the crockpot and slow cooking it for 10+ hours I've found that I know longer push aside the meat. The long slow cooking breaks down those tougher textures for a silker, more homogenous sauce.  I now always make my chili and pasta meat sauce this way.  The convenience is great also: throw it in the slow cooker and forget it.  This recipe makes approximately seven cups, three of which will be used in the Timpano.  The other three cups freeze very well for another meal another time. 

Feijoida is Good by itself but Better with a Friend

 

Invited to lunch yesterday by my friend Teril, I was served a Portuguese treat I'd never had or made before:  Feijoida, a thick multi-meat stew that her husband, Stan, had brought back a love for from his LDS mission to Brazil. Americanizing it slightly, Teril's version is very close to what he ate in Brazil. Originally, Feijoida was a stew created by the African slaves brought to Portugal and all of its colonies, including Brazil.  The stew primarily consisted of black, white, or pinto beans (depending on the country and region), simmered in large clay pots along with a mix of cast off meats available to the slaves:  beef tongue and pig ears, tails, and feet. Thankfully, the stew Teril fed me was made from beef chuck roast, smoked sausage, and bacon.  I hope. More modernly, the stew is served over rice and may be accompanied by additional smoked sausages, kale or collard greens, hot sauce, and sometimes deep fried bananas.

Warm Winter Soup: Navy Bean and Ham

 

I've been trying to keep homemade soups in the fridge this winter for something nutritious to snack on or grab for work lunches and bean soups are my favorite.  Even though I happily eat them all year round, they embody winter cooking for me. I love how meaty and hearty they are, while knowing that they're absolutely good for me on every level from the fiber to the vitamins to the protein.  One of the ways I've changed my cooking style of bean soups, though, is to pump up the vegetable volume. I used to use veggies as seasoning and now I usually have as many onions, peppers, carrots mixed in as beans.  I love the way they fill out the taste and cook down along with the bean starch for that porridge consistency, sort of thick bowls of warmth on a gray day.

Crockpot Chili Stew

I was looking for a crockpot meal yesterday so I wouldn't have to spend much time in the kitchen and was trying to use up some ground beef and vegetables from the fridge, and beans and seasoning packets from the pantry when I came up with this idea, sort of a cross between chili and stew using ground beef, pinto beans, our CSA veggies, and a few potatoes.  Seasoned like chili it was a little "lighter" than chili but a little "heavier" than vegetable soup.  Gene and I both liked it; we'll be making it again, more often as cooler weather moves in. 

Summer Family Birthday Party: Bratwursts in the Crockpot

Not only did we have a fun summer family bday party, honoring (boy) Jordan, Sydney, and Kaylee (who wasn't able to come--we miss you, girlie!) we made up a new recipe.  Usually bratwursts and grills go together but for a variety of reasons it just wasn't an option this time so we fired up the crockpot instead.  I've made hot dogs in the crockpot (beef broth instead of water) for work things so I knew it would work but I didn't realize just how well. One of the yummy side effects of the crockpot was how tender the brats ended up coming out.  Deliciously tender.  Amazingly tender.  Plus, in the last few cooking hours, I added a sliced onion, red pepper, and banana pepper to the mix and they became one of our favorite toppings.

I worked right before the party so the Price Cutter bakery at Republic Road and National had to step up to the plate with cakes. These were adorable (and very reasonably priced) "Fancy Baby Doubles", an eight inch layer topped with a six inch layer. Plenty of cake to serve everyone plus small enough to be able to get individually designed boy and girl cakes, one in chocolate and one in vanilla. We all loved them. I've really been impressed with Price Cutter's bakery the last few years. They've got a great staff of talented and versatile decorators.  The kids happily shared their cakes and still had leftovers to take home.

Quick & Painless Meals: Crockpot Chicken & Dressing

My new favorite meal for a busy day is to throw chicken breasts or thighs and dressing into the crockpot. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.  There's no reason that stuffing has to be baked.  Granted it doesn't look as pretty in the crockpot but it's delicious and hearty and good for you if you take the extra 10 minutes to add veggies and nuts into the dressing mix.